A demon always eats what it loves
by Hashi-Hashi
Summary: Souls of previous contracts follow Sebastian and the undertaker threatens the life of Sebastian. But there is a sliver of feeling with Ciel, that means his young master will be closer than any of the other ghosts. He'll be able to feel his cold soul and unused heart, let his skinny arms clutch at his neck with his ghostly arms.


TITLE: A demon always eats what it loves

AUTHOR: Hashi-Hashi

DISCLAIMER: This piece is written for entertainment purposes only with no financial gain. The characters belong completely to the franchise.

Late at night the butler and his master entered the Phantomhive mansion. The whole castle was lit only by the soft orange glow of candle light. It played on the soft red carpet in the foyer and bounced off the portraits making the figures look like ghosts.

The butler listened for the sound of feet or voices when there was none he sighed in relief. The last thing he had wanted was nosy servants waking his young charge up. Young Phantomhive had been exhausted after the day's outing. Sebastian had been worried he wouldn't fall asleep and the exhaustion would leave his immune system vulnerable. Young children were always prone to such things when they were tired. Even children as mature as his young master were easily agitated when they were in need of sleep.

A whimper reminded Sebastian of the nightmare his young master was suffering from, it was caused by the undertaker. The thoughtless fool had demanded to hear Ciel scream in payment for information. Now there were memories resurfacing, ones that Sebastian had worked hard to supress. They devalued the flavour of the soul he so wished to devour and they took away the childish sparkle in Ciel's eyes.

As a Phantomhive butler Sebastian knew that he shouldn't have let his master be scared by a person of such low status, but it was entertaining for him. Plus the master himself had given permission for it to happen, on the condition that they receive the information after. But one should always know better than to provide the payment before the service, they had received no information of use from the man.

It had frustrated Ciel no end and a smirk appeared on the demon's face as he knew Ciel hadn't expected to be scared so badly by the man. "Oh how cute, you are still so childlike." He swept a gloved hand over the smooth cheek in mock comfort. The aristocratic child stirred in his sleep from the touch but gave no other response. Sebastian looked up as he reached the top of the stairs and turned towards the master bedroom.

At the recurring thought of the undertaker and Ciel, his mouth turned down into an angry frown. He, the contracted demon, was the only one who could threaten his master's existence and the only one who could offer him safety and love. It angered him that the undertaker had enough cheek to ask about scaring his master nevertheless taking up the action. Surely he knew that it was a demon's job to scare the prey not that of a shinigami. He clutched Ciel's shoulder possessively letting the pale skin bruise beneath his grip. He couldn't say enough how much it had infuriated him that the man had dared to request Ciel's scream as payment. But perhaps what angered him the most was his inability to refuse. His master had requested the information and as a butler he must retrieve it, whether it angered him or not.

Ciel whimpered in his sleep, dream monsters with cold hands and rusting knives slashing at his skin. Sebastian's eyes changed imitating the happiness of a hungry child at mealtimes. The cruel truth of a demon filtered through his body as he snacked happily on the delicious fear that flowed from the child. In keeping with his mockery of love for the child pressed a kiss to the forehead of his prey. The little soul made his mouth salivate and he knew that this little child would feed him for a hundred lifetimes. The delicious memories that were held in the tiny head fuelled an imagination strong enough to satiate a millennia-hungry demon. His mouth almost drooled at the thought of the soul entering his chest, the refreshing cool of a soul enveloping him in one huge wave of evil fulfilment. Even just the memories of the day floating in his young charge's head were a delicious appetizer to the final feast.

Sebastian sorted through each memory greedy to taste the delicious hint of Ciel's fear. His mind was transported back to what had transpired that day as he devoured the fear from the memories.

That day Sebastian took his little master to the undertaker's shop. People watched them enter the shabby building from the side of the road. The dilapidated door spilled out dust and an unnerving fragrance of rosemary to all those who had the misfortune to open it.

Not put off by the scent or dust, Sebastian regarded the door with disdain. "This shop remains to be an unsanitary place."

"It does hold the rotting dead Sebastian. What did you expect?" His young master expertly ignored the pitting stares and whispered remarks from the watching citizens on the street. He was well known now as the lonely child earl, so many held pity for him, which infuriated Cielhim to no end.

Sebastian bowed. "Quite right young master, do forgive me." He held the door open while his young master entered. He bit back a request for Ciel to remain in the carriage, it would be refused regardless. But as the Phantomhive butler he was always wary of the place as it was the cause of many illnesses. He winced as what was in the tea that his master was always forced to drink sprang to his eager mind. Had it been any other day he would have swept his master out without listening to protests but today they had a mission from the queen. It was all childish and pathetic to him, especially when Ciel knew he could just order Sebastian to solve the case for him. His young master was such a pain always insisting upon proving his 'adulthood'. Even Sebastian could tell he was not ready to be completely grown up and Sebastian wasn't even human. But he was good at cultivating prey and this one was going to be tender and sweet with just a hint of blackened fear. That made Ciel perfect breeding grounds with just the right amount of pride and fear to create childishcreate childish beliefs of safety and love that sweetened the soul.

Sebastian's mind drifted back to the events at the shop. Wincing as again the demands of his master haunted his thoughts.

"I wish to know about this virus undertaker. I presume you are aware of it." Ciel stood proudly with his little cane, awaiting the information with barely controlled interest. Bard, Finnian and Meyrin stood to attention proudly behind their little lord while Sebastian kept a lazy eye on them all. He knew that Bard was going to interrupt sometime; it was just a matter of hitting the American in the mouth before any sound came out. Meyrin also had an anxious eye on the room, but he could see she was fingering the trigger of her gun so it was more nerves over the undertaker than deliberation over inappropriate actions.

The undertaker wagged a finger in Ciel's face admonishing him for being so forthright with his demands. "Now, now my young lord, there is a price for my information. It is of course a joke, from that hilarious butler of yours!" He squeaked and croaked in a rough imitation of a laugh. But Sebastian could tell that wasn't the price the two made eye contact having a brief conversation in a glance.

Sebastian ushered them all out insisting that they don't listen encase they too hear the joke and break into laughter. Then Sebastian stood in front of the door, leaning against the rickety old wood while the undertaker spoke.

The undertaker had waited until he was sure the earl wasn't even thinking about listening before he pulled Sebastian down to his eye level. Sebastian wrinkled his nose in disdain. His lovely uniform would be infected with the awful stench of that man. All his hard work cleaning and folding would be for nothing.

The undertaker pressed their foreheads together, revealing his gap toothed grin.

'_The price is the sound of your young Lord's scream, so that I know what to listen for the day you eat his soul. Then I can come and take yours in revenge for the innocence that you take. But then again my demon fiend perhaps that would be a blessing. Surely it would be a relief for you not to hear his soft, ghostly footsteps as he follows in your tread or his cold clammy hands as they clasp around your neck. I know the souls of past all follow you, but this one will not follow at a distance. The soul of that child will be reliant upon you. He'll cling to you like a babe to its mother. Oh yes, I think perhaps I'll leave you to suffer.'_

A cold snigger escaped Sebastian's lips. He cared nothing for his meal; in fact, he cared nothing for the contract. He was a high ranking demon; they only followed the contract if it suited their fancy and right now a delectable soul ripe for taking suited him. It bothered him, however, if the remains of Ciel's soul followed him but with how hungry he was it was unlikely that there would be any of the soul left.

Sebastian shuddered as cold hands of the dead gone by clutched at his unused heart. The curse of a demon was not immortality, to avoid death was pure entertainment, but to be tortured by those you maim. He could see them sometimes watching him, not one yard away. They did not scare him, but they were not pleasant creatures to deal with. He looked down at Ciel's little face, the undertaker was right. Ciel would come closer than the others. There was an emotion with Ciel, one he was not used to. No matter how much he tried to fool himself there was always a little sliver of care.

The demon shifted the light body in his arms and struggled to refocus his thoughts away from the care that he felt for Ciel. His young master was a child. Children's souls were always the sweetest. He was a demon and he was merely fooled into thinking this way by the taste. There was nothing worse than being lured into human emotions by the hungering need of his demon stomach.

He slipped Ciel beneath the covers, pulling the heavy sheets to below the boy's chin. "There is no point caring Bocchan, a demon always eats what it loves."


End file.
